Izayoi (The After Years)
Izayoi is one of the Eblan Four in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. She is a ninja who views battle in a calm and collected manner. She is known to make use of her other assets, though she views herself as a ninja first, a woman second. Profile Appearance Izayoi wears a female-styled variant of traditional ninja garb, colored various shades of blue to reflect her elemental affinity for water. She wears a blue robe tied over her uniform with a large light blue bow, and blue boots. She has long brown hair tied in a ponytail and has blue eyes. While undercover in Troia as an Epopt trainee, Izayoi disguises herself in a pink dress. Profile Izayoi's desire is to be taken seriously as a ninja, and not to be looked down upon or treated differently due to her gender. When Edge expresses displeasure at the Eblan Four desiring to be trained in the ninja arts used as tools of war, Izayoi protests that their ninja training allows them to do more for the world than fight, and that as ninjas it is their destiny to strive for the limits of human potential. In the Eblan Castle, one of the citizens mentions Izayoi has spurred all of his advances and suspects that someone else may have captured her eye, but Izayoi herself explains that she "doesn't want to be treated like a woman any longer." Yet, her mission is done in the most feminine environment: Troia, where she learns to become a killer seductress. Story When Eblan receives word of Baron stealing Crystals from the other nations, the Eblan Four become eager to assist Edge, and they are sent on missions to gather information. Izayoi disguises herself as an Epopt trainee in Troia where she learns the Epopts have constructed a Tower of Trials to train their ranks into combat, and goes to investigate it. Izayoi returns to Eblan in the ship that brought Palom to Troia. She reunites with Edge and the other Eblan Four within the Tower of Babil and after being forced to escape from the Mysterious Girl and Ifrit they fall to the Underworld and into the Falcon. In the Gathering Tale, Izayoi watches over Leonora, Palom, and the other incapacitated people below the deck of the Falcon deck. After the Creator has been felled Izayoi impersonates as an Epopt trainee, where she giggles at Leonora's upcoming announcement. In the end, she and the other Ninja Guard of Eblan renew their vows of loyalty to Edge, awaiting their next mission. Gameplay Stats Similar to Edge, Izayoi has all-around average stats with high Speed. Although her Spirit is the highest of the ninjas, healing Ninjutsu is actually tied to Intelligence. Even so, dedicated White Mages have better varieties of healing spells. Izayoi is well-suited to the back row with her variety of long-range weapons, as well as her lower HP and Stamina than other physical characters. Abilities Izayoi's ability is Illusions, which confuses an enemy and is not any more effective than the Confuse spell. She can use healing Ninjutsu skills and can perform Band abilities with the other Eblan ninjas and Leonora due to her time undercover in Troia, and is also able to take part in a handful of Bands focusing on the female party members. Equipment Izayoi can equip katanas, boomerangs, whips, and bows. She starts with a Kodachi, a Leather Cap, a Foot Ninja Gear and an Iron Armlet. She is most effective with the latter two, as katanas and boomerangs are optimal only for the ambidextrous ninjas, Edge and Tsukinowa. Certain bows and whips decrease their user's mental stats, which lowers the effectiveness of her Ninjutsu. If Izayoi is equipped with Mystic Veil, Fire Scarf and Protect Ring, she can Absorb Holy, Fire, Ice and Lightning, making her the only female character to absorb the most elements. thumb|right|330px|Top: Izayoi with 145 attack (2D), Bottom: Izayoi with 255 attack (3D) with the same setup and level. Izayoi is very proficient with bows because of her high speed and many equipments that can enhance her strength. With an Artemis Bow, Perseus/Artemis Arrows, a Minerva Bustier/Brave Suit and a Hyper Wrist/Giant's Gloves, she will be the fastest bow user and her damage output will be fairly high (Luca deals a little more damage with a similar setup but doesn't have Izayoi's speed). This setup can be completed with a ribbon (ailments protection) or a Chakra Band (+3 strength and speed and some statuses resistance). This takes a whole new level in the 3D version where the bow formula isn't applied to her, instead she uses the same formula as Edge and Tsukinowa when they are dualwelding. With a Perseus Bow and Perseus Arrows, Izayoi can match the damage output of the Utima Weapon at high level. Boss Izayoi is fought as a boss, along with the remaining Eblan Four, at the beginning of Edge's Tale, as part of a training session. Other appearances ''Pictlogica Final Fantasy Izayoi appears in ''Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character. PFF Izayoi Illust.png|Izayoi's illustration. PFF Izayoi.png|Izayoi's sprite. ''Final Fantasy Artniks FF4CC Izayoi R+ I Artniks.png|''Final Fantasy Artniks. ''Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Izayoi appears in the ''Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Gallery TAY Woman of the Eblan Four.png|Izayoi (iOS). TAY IOS Izayoi Babil.png|Izayoi at the Tower of Babil (iOS). Etymology Like the other Eblan Four, Izayoi's name is related to the moon. Category:Characters in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Category:Ninjas